Trespasses Review: Gillian Anderson's Period Drama Gets Dragged Down By Lackluster Romance

Channel 4's Trespasses had the potential to be a great period romance, but it fell flat because of a subpar romance with an unlikable man.

Published Sep 17, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT

Dani Kessel Odom (they/them) is an autistic lead writer and TV critic who covers sci-fi shows like Doctor Who and Pluribus, fantasy shows like The Magicians and Percy Jackson, and horror of all kinds. They also cover Marvel and DC TV shows and movies, with a robust knowledge of comic books. Their TV reviews can be found on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Aside from working at Screen Rant, Dani has worked as a freelance editor and writer over the past decade, often in a ghostwriting capacity.

Trespasses, Channel 4’s drama set in 1975 Belfast, fails to thrive because of an unlikable male lead and an inconsistent narrative direction. The British TV show aired on Channel 4 in the UK in November 2025, and it has now come to the United States through PBS. Adapted from the titular novel by Louise Kennedy, Trespasses had so much potential. The show takes place against the backdrop of The Troubles, a violent conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted from the 1960s to 1998. During this time, the British-loyalist, Protestant majority systemically oppressed and perpetuated violence against the Irish-aligned Catholic minority.

The TV show is advertised as a period romance. Cushla, a younger Catholic Irish schoolteacher, and Michael Agnew, an older British Protestant barrister representing accused IRA members, start up a forbidden relationship. They must sneak around, but it proves difficult because he is such a high-profile individual. The two lovers are played by Lola Pettigrew and Tom Cullen, two charming and talented actors who are capable of carrying a TV show. With a star-crossed lovers premise and two capable leads, Trespasses should have been a major success.

However, Trespasses has many issues, whether that be character development or too many plotlines running at once. When you boil it down, most of the issues come back to the fact that the show doesn't know what it wants to be. The biggest success was the depiction of The Troubles, but that isn’t enough to make Trespasses good.

Trespasses Is A Heartbreakingly Beautiful Depiction Of The Troubles

I want to start with the biggest positive I have to say about Trespasses. The Troubles is such a hard period in time to depict because it included violence, pain, and sectarian systemic discrimination based on prejudices against the Irish Catholic minority. Trespasses is a heart-wrenchingly beautiful and unflinching portrayal of this part of Northern Irish history, and it brought tears to my eyes a few times.

There are larger-scale plot points attached to The Troubles, such as Michael defending accused IRA members and the Catholic Irish minority experiencing police brutality. However, it’s also infused in every small aspect of the show, which is a testament to the writing team. The graffiti on the walls may include very few words, but it says a lot about the political climate.

Cushla going to school requires her to go through Ring of Steel checkpoints. Her job as a teacher forces her to find a child-appropriate way to discuss the ongoing events. Meanwhile, she has to deal with both sexual harassment and bigotry at the hands of British soldiers and loyalists. The affair between Cushla and Michael feels subtly influenced by her being an Irish Catholic and him being a British Protestant, even if he’s against the cruelty of his side. Even something as minor as the use of Gaelic words is controlled and admonished.

Trespasses doesn’t balance its story well, creating a tug-of-war effect as too many plotlines vie for attention.

It feels like the creative team behind Trespasses had an intimate understanding of the pain and history of The Troubles. I do worry that there will be a high barrier to entry for a global audience. The show caters to an audience that already possesses a baseline knowledge of the conflict. While I know a lot about The Troubles, I fear others won’t understand what’s going on as easily.

Regardless, Trespasses deserves praise for capturing that tragic moment without being salacious or exploitative. They keep the deaths and most of the bombings offscreen, but their presence is felt. If The Troubles' portrayal were the only judgment of merit, I’d rank the show much higher. Unfortunately, there are just too many issues pulling Trespasses down.

Trespasses Doesn’t Have A Clear Narrative Direction

I really wanted to like Trespasses, since I’m interested in The Troubles. However, the show started on an uneven footing and struggled with a clear lack of direction. Trespasses never seemed to know what it wanted to be. The show is marketed as a love story between a young Irish Catholic school teacher and an older Protestant barrister. However, it doesn’t stick to this premise.

The series is part love story and part family drama about a young woman caring for her alcoholic mother and trying to keep the family bar afloat. It bleakly depicts political tension and the connection between a teacher and her student.

Unfortunately, Trespasses doesn’t balance its story well, creating a tug-of-war effect as too many plotlines vie for attention. Perhaps they could have pulled this off in a longer-format show, but the four-hour run time does the series no favors. There aren’t many transitions because there isn’t enough time to shift subjects smoothly.

Unfortunately, the lack of clear identity also seeps into the tone. I don’t need Trespasses to be all happy or all sad. TV shows can flow well between the two. However, it’s jarring to go from an upbeat pop song with romance scenes to a teacher talking about a family not being able to afford food because a parent is brutally injured due to The Troubles.

Trespass’s Central Couple Includes An Unlikable Male Lead

As mentioned, Trespasses was billed as a forbidden romance, so it’s the plot that gets the most judgment out of me. Cushla and Michael need a strong relationship to anchor the story. Cheating and infidelity stories will always be off-putting to me, but I would’ve been able to put that aside if it were the only issue with Michael and Cushla’s relationship. I knew what I was getting into with this show. Unfortunately, too many things worked against this couple and kept them from being lovable.

Cheating aside, there’s a clear power imbalance between Cushla and Michael, as she’s a schoolteacher and he’s a high-profile lawyer. They lean into this rather than trying to mitigate the circumstances, making him unlikable and creepy. The age difference didn’t help. Tom Cullen is 41, and Lola Pettigrew is 30. Eleven years isn't that bad in TV age-gap relationships. The problem is that they made Pettigrew look like she's in her mid to late 20s, like Cushla, but Tom Cullen’s Michael was styled to look older than 40. I’m not sure whether that was an intentional decision, but it was a bad choice. He looked like he could be in his 50s.

The sad part about the lackluster romance in Trespasses is that the show had a different, more compelling story that doesn't get nearly enough time.

Ultimately, Cushla exudes compassion and warmth, even with her flaws. She has no moral backbone when it comes to dating a married man. However, that doesn’t change her willingness to help out a struggling family and care for her alcoholic mother. It feels like we really get to know her on a personal level. Plus, Lola Pettigrew has a magnetic quality about her.

In contrast, Michael doesn’t have much character development, and what's there makes the love interest seem like a terrible person. He is a womanizer who isn’t even upfront with his partners about cheating. He has terrible friends. He comes across as manipulative because he calls her over and over again, even when she isn’t responding. Then, he just expects her to drop everything and come see him when he calls. It comes across as controlling, not charming. He at least gets a few points for being less bigoted than other characters, but that's not enough to make him likable. It’s a shame because I enjoy Tom Cullen as an actor, and it’s clear that he gave the role his all.

Unfortunately, this droll of a romance is only made worse by many unnecessary sex scenes. I am a very sex-positive person and am all for good sex scenes when they serve a purpose. These had pretty much no purpose, though, and the choreography was boring. That time could have been better spent on character development or furthering the plot.

The Relationship Between Cushla & The McGeowns In Trespasses Is Heartwarming

PETER MARLEY / CHANNEL 4

The sad part about the lackluster romance in Trespasses is that the show had a different, more compelling story that could have been the focus. The relationship between Cushla and the McGeowns is extremely moving. It’s the part of the show that kept me going. The care she gives Davy is extremely sweet, and she makes sure the family has the resources he needs to thrive.

The young actor playing Davy did a stellar job at making the character feel real. What's more, the McGoewns reflect the prejudices mixed-faith marriages experienced and the economic issues in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. I only wish that Trespasses had given more time and attention to this instead of a lackluster romance with an unlikable male lead.

All episodes of Trespasses will stream on PBS Masterpiece and PBS Passport starting September 20, 2026. Episodes will be released weekly on the PBS channel every Sunday, starting September 20.